1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container apparatus of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Publication 2003-148026 discloses a container apparatus of a vehicle which, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, includes a fixed member 1 fixed to a vehicle, a movable member 2 movable relative to the fixed member 1 so as to be pulled out from the fixed member and pushed into the fixed member, and a slider 3 provided slidably relative to the movable member 2 in a vertical direction. Two hook engageable portions 4 are provided on the fixed member 1 at portions of the fixed member different from each other in a transverse direction (a right and left direction) of the fixed member. Two hooks 5 are provided on the slider 3 so as to be engageable with the hook engageable portions 4 when the movable member is positioned in the fixed member. A knob 6 is provided in the movable member 2 at a transverse center of the movable member so as to be rotatable relative to the movable member in a plane in which the movable member is moved relative to the fixed member. The knob 6 moves down the slider 3 when the knob 6 pushes down the transverse center of the slider 3. Since the knob 6 is rotated, the movable member 2 may be a concave 7 shaped portion which allows a finger to handle the knob by entering a space 8 between a surface of the concave 7 shaped portion and the knob.
With the above-described container apparatus, there may be the following drawbacks:
(a) It may be difficult to locate the knob at a position offset from the transverse center of the movable member.
If the knob were located at a transverse end portion of the movable member, the knob may push down the slider accompanied by rotation of the slider about a transverse center of the slider. As a result, it can be difficult to move the slider in the vertical direction via the knob. This may mean that it is difficult to locate the knob at the transverse end portion of the movable member. When the knob is provided to an upper box or a glove box in front of a front passenger seat of a vehicle at a transverse center of the upper box or the glove box, the knob can be positioned far away from a driver, whereby handling of the knob is not easy.
(b) A size of the container apparatus may be increased in the vertical direction.
Since the slider is movable in the vertical direction, a vertical size of the container apparatus may be increased.
When a transverse dimension between the two hooks is large, a transverse dimension of the slider to which the hooks are provided is also large. In that case, in order to cause the slider to move smoothly in the vertical direction, a larger vertical sized slider may be required. As a result, the vertical size of the container apparatus is also larger.
(c) An external appearance of the movable member may be degraded by including the concave shaped portion.
Since the knob is rotatably coupled to the movable member, the movable member is required to have the concave shaped portion to allow a finger to enter between the surface of the concave shaped portion and the knob, which makes the external appearance quality of the movable member low.